The poems in our ongoing “Liberating Words” series were written in an interdisciplinary course for high school juniors at The Winsor School, an all-girls school in Boston, Mass. The course, “The Personal Is Political: An Interdisciplinary Look at Feminism,” is co-taught by Libby Parsley, a History teacher, and Susanna Ryan, an English teacher. The second unit of the course focuses on the history and literature of second-wave feminism—the women’s liberation movement of the 1960’s and 70’s. Students read a compilation of poems by women writers from that period and then wrote their own poems; the assignment asked them to represent an issue or problem they see as central to 21st-century women’s experience through the very personal genre of poetry.
Hey Beautiful
by Ellisya Lindsey
Hey beautiful,
You should get home soon.
You look better when you’re at home safe.
Hey beautiful,
You should smile more.
You look better when you smile.
Hey beautiful,
You should come home with me.
You look better when we’re together.
Hey beautiful,
You should be happy.
You look better under me.
Hey beautiful,
You should’ve kept your mouth shut.
You looked better when you were alive.
Ellisya Lindsey is a junior at the Winsor School who is interested in social/civil rights issues and their solutions.
